Five men have been sentenced for their part in the fatal stabbing of a Romanian takeaway worker in the Stratford Centre.

Beniamin Pieknyi, 21, from Milton Keynes, was stabbed in the heart during a fight on March 20 while trying to protect his friend. The fight lasted less than four minutes.

At the Old Bailey today (Wednesday), Vladyslav Yakymchuk, 23, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, to serve a minimum of 24 years. He was given three years for violent disorder and 18 months for carrying a bladed article. He pleaded guilty to all three counts on June 13.

Kevin Duarte, 19, of no fixed abode, and Moses Kasule, 20, of Cavesson House in Ribbons Walk, Stratford, were sentenced to 12 years in a young offenders’ institution for manslaughter, and 36 months for violent disorder.

Kasule and Duarte were found guilty of manslaughter and violent disorder on October 12 following a four week trial. They pleaded not guilty.

Kevin Duarte and Moses Kasule have been found guilty of manslaughter and violent disorder. Picture: Met Police

A further two men, Alexis Gabriel Da Costa Varela, 19, of Lillechurch Road, Dagenham, and Mario Zvavamwe, 19, of Crow Lane, Romford, were found guilty of violent disorder on the same day. Zvavamwe was sentenced to 30 months in a young offenders’ institution.

Varela was sentenced to 40 months in a young offenders’ institution, as well as 12 months for a previous conviction of violent disorder, in which he threw bottles and traffic cones in a protest outside Forest Gate police station about the death of Edson Da Costa. Mr Da Costa died in police custody in 2017, and was Varela’s first cousin.

Judge Rebecca Poulet QC said: “All of you were involved in violent disorder which culminated in the fatal stabbing of a 21-year-old man.

“Beniamin Pieknyi had come to the UK four years ago and had made a successful life for himself. He was a much loved part of a large family.